Saturday, November 27, 2010

41v The Only True and Living Church Upon the Face of the Whole Earth, With Which the Lord is Well Pleased, Speaking Unto the Church Collectively and not Individually!

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From The End of This Post. Much of this post is a repeat of my post 40l.

This post has been written in response to the most recent comment made by "BOMC". It can be found at the end of my Post 41t

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TODAY'S THEME

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The Resurrected Jesus Christ - Painting: Harry Anderson

Sometime in A.D. 34 somewhere in what we now know as Central America, the following words were spoken from the sky in total darkness. This darkness was a part of the great cataclysm which had completely destroyed large numbers of Nephite cities, killing all of those who lived in them, by various means, i.e. earthquakes, floods, mountains falling upon and covering cities, etc. These words were spoken by the Resurrected Jesus Christ to the more righteous of that people who had been saved from total destruction by their righteousness. They could not see Him. They only heard His voice at this time. They were to see Him and to be taught by him later.

Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 9:18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

20And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

22Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved. (Emphasis Added)

That message given to that particular people, was included in the Book of 3Nephi by the Prophet Mormon under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, those words of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, apply to all of us in our day and time on earth! That would appear to include both you and me, "BOMC."

"BOMC", it appears to me that you haven't yet taken the time to use my Blog Index to review what I have put in my approximate 240 blog posts about the importance to all of us getting to know the Book of Mormon very well and learning to live in accordance with its teachings because You have continued to assert that the Book of Mormon is not considered important by Latter-day Saints.

By using my Blog Index under the subject title, Ezra Taft Benson you could have read the General Conference talk he gave about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it in one of my posts. That is his talk you mentioned in your most recent blog Comment.

Also in your just previous Blog Comment you appeared to intimate that I and most other LDS members have continued to ignore that council President Benson gave at that Conference talk.

His talk actually motivated many LDS members to repent of their having not paid enough attention to the Book of Mormon. After his talk he received many letters from Latter-day Saints thanking him for his great talk and promising to repent of their neglect of that sacred book. I and my wife did not need to repent because we had been reading from the Book of Mormon once every day for many years, in English and in my mission language. I am sure many others had been doing as we had done.

Additional LDS prophets since President Benson have made special efforts to urge church members to read and use that great book in their daily lives. Church members responded positively and enthusiastically to their urgings! Our LDS ward bishop and his counselors even helped our ward members (children included) to keep track of their reading using a chart posted on the wall just opposite our bishop's office about two years ago. That was accomplished very enthusiastically by both children and their parents!

I had even taken the time and effort needed on February 27, 2010 to insert electronically the many scriptural links President Ezra Taft Benson provided in that particular blog post:Post 39r.

Please, ("BOMC" and other Viewers of this Blog post) click on that post link just above to read President Benson's great talk about the Book of Mormon. After having clicked on that link so that you are in my post 39r, you'll need to scroll down about half way through that post to read that most significant talk about the Book of Mormon, The Keystone of our Religion. (Significantly, that terminology was first used by the first president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith whom you criticise frequently.)

"BOMC", Below the following short paragraph is another quote from your just previous comment at the end of my Post 41t:

"I now seek "to set you straight on one matter you, ("BOMC") brought up in your most recent Comment: It was regarding your assumption that there were already official Church members prior to April 6, 1830. . ."

"BOMC", you need to be set straight on that matter: The definition for "church" which you, BOMC cited is found in D. and C. 10:67 (which was revealed in the summer of 1828 : "Behold, this is my doctrine - whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the SAME IS MY CHURCH." (Emphasis was yours!)

As I attempted unsuccessfully to help you understand before, the word, 'church,' as used in that scripture is a generic (Webster: typical not concrete) definition of the word, "church," or in other words, the state of heart and mind in which people can place themselves in. It is not referring to the legal or official establishment of Jesus' church.

The Lord was, without doubt, referring to the good number of people who had been following Joseph Smith's efforts to prepare himself to receive and translate the record found on the Plates of Gold. Those people believed in what the Lord was doing through Joseph Smith and were coming to the Lord in their hearts in preparation to be eventually baptised (as He commands of all) into His only true church which, at the right time, would be set up! The Lord knew they officially would become His Saints at the time His Church was officially organized at His insistence!

Also, I have stressed in the majority of my blog posts the importance of making the Book of Mormon a key guide in our lives as I did at the very beginning of this post. You claim that book is not considered by Latter-day Saints to be important.

One thing has become very clear to me about you. You are an avowed critic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and you do not accept the Lord's statement in Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants:

30 And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually— (Emphasis Added)

It has also become very obvious to me and surely to the other viewers of this blog that you pick and choose from the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants only that which supports your personal views. You also, incorrectly, intimate that I do that.

Now I'll turn to the Book of Mormon itself to let the prophet, Nephi point out the error of your claims. You somewhere in one of your Comments, quoted from part of this scripture but neglected a very clarifying part of it regarding the world-wide stature or character of Jesus' true church!

Although there are as of very recently, fourteen million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, compared to the total population of the world, that world-wide LDS Church membership is a relatively very small portion. That is just as the Prophet, Nephi pointed out to us in verse 12 of Chapter 10 of 1 Nephi above. Here is that complete scriptural reference:

1 Nephi 14: 10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

11 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.

12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.

13 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.

14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

15 And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth. (Clarification and Emphasis Added)

"BOMC', as you ought to know, there is only one actual church on the earth which accepts and actually provides The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ to the world because it is their book, given to them by the Lord through His prophet, Joseph Smith. It owns the copy write to that sacred book. It is available in many languages in a huge number of countries. Our congregations (stakes and wards) can be found throughout the earth. No other Book of Mormon believing church can claim that!

Previously, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared with this church that sacred book. However, they now deny its being the Word of God. You can use my Blog Index by clicking on the link below and then scrolling down in that post of mine to the picture of: Professor Terryl Givens in a fairly recent blog post of mine. In my post 41h which you can link with below, scroll first, down to his photo and the replica of the cover of his book.

Then please scroll down to the final several paragraphs of Professor Given's quote to verify that statement I just made about the Reorganized LDS Church (which is not their name any longer) is true!

Professor Given's Given's quote to verify that statement I just made about the Reorganized LDS Church (which is not their name any more) is very accurate! Please click on this link: Post 41h
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Hyrum and Joseph Smith

By the way, "BOMC", are you aware of something very significant about Joseph Smith and his firm commitment to the Book of Mormon. As he and his brother, Hyrum were about to be killed by a drunken mob, they chose to bear testimony to those few others who were with them in the Carthage, Illinois Jail, of the truthfulness of that book.

If that book were a fake (and I'm not implying that you believe such is the case -you've convinced me that you believe in the Book of Mormon) , in those dire circumstances they surely would have admitted to that being the case. However, the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, had been a basic focus in their ministries and in those crucial circumstances they bore solemn witness of it! And Joseph Smith had prophesied that the Book of Mormon would continue to be a crucial part of the Restored Church's ministry!

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An Artist's Perception of the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith

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﻿Another matter, you obviously have not taken time using my Blog Index to review what I have put in my approximate 240 blog posts about the importance to LDS members getting to know the Book of Mormon very well and and living in accordance with its teachings.

You implied in your most recent blog comment that I and other Latter-day Saints treat lightly the teachings of the Book of Mormon. I have stressed in the majority of my blog posts the importance of making the Book of Mormon a key guide in our lives.

Although you, "BOMC" quote fairly liberally from the Doctrine and Covenants, as I imply elsewhere in this post, it appears that you actually choose to believe only those sections that meet the criteria you set!

One thing has become very clear to me about you. You are an avid critic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and you do not accept the Lord's statement in Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants:

1:30 And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually— (Emphasis Added)

It has become very obvious to me and surely to the other viewers of my blog that you pick and choose from the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants only that which supports your personal views. The order in which these revelations are given is not crucial. They are each revelations to the Lord's chosen prophet!
You never tell us what the initials in the name you have given yourself in these Blog Comments, “BOMC” stands for. I and perhaps many of those who read this blog, feel like I do that you are very reticent in telling us who you really are and what you really stand for.

Does "BOMC" stand for "Book of Mormon Church?" If so why doesn't your church, if there is such, or any other like it, meet the criteria given for the Lord's Church in 1 Nephi 14: 10-15 given previously, ie. its membership being "upon the face of the whole earth" If there were such a church or church we surely would have heard about it!

Of Churches who hold the Book of Mormon true, there is only one church that meets that scriptural description: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!It is offensive to me and I am sure that it is offensive to most, if not all of my blog viewers, especially those who are LDS, for you to deny the truthfulness of verse 30 of The Book of Doctrine and Covenants I've shown above, especially in view of what was prophesied by Nephi, Son of Lehi in 1 Nephi 14: 10-15 around 550 B.C.

By the way, "BOMC", were you aware of something very significant about Joseph Smith and his firm commitment to the Book of Mormon. As he and his brother, Hyrum were about to be killed by a drunken mob, they each chose to bear testimony to those few others who were with them in the Carthage, Illinois Jail, of the truthfulness of that book.

You indicate that the LDS Church ignores the Book of Mormon. I now ask you to view a video in which Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles tells us in a church video made from one of his recent general conference talks, about how crucial Latter-day scriptures, including the Book of Mormon is to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to everyone else.

Because of the way you expressed yourself in the approximately four comments you have made in this blog, I sense that it is very likely that you are a former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who either chose to remove himself from church membership or was excommunicated for some reason!

If such was the case I am sure that there are members of this church who know and love you and who continue to pray for your eternal salvation and happiness in this life. I know very well how members of this church react in these situations and I pray for you too!

In closing this blog post, I suggest that both you, BOMC and I, Neil Birch, follow the council that our Savior, Jesus Christ gave to the Nephites as quoted at the beginning of this post: That we each:

Our Savior, the Resurrected Jesus Christ - Painting: Harry Anderson

"offer for a sacrifice unto me, (Jesus Christ) a broken heart and a contrite spirit."I suggestThat we each do this in making and answering comments. I have tried to write what I have written with that spirit. I sincerely hope you choose to do the same.

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DISCLAIMERThis website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Decide To Access),After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Click on any of the Following link: Church, -Only True and Living Church Upon the Earth. -Post 41vWhen You See The Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use the Automatic Alphabetical Finding Device (When It Has Been Installed!)

I deeply appreciate your readership and very much hope you you will find that which was presented to you in this blog post, very beneficial.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have one additional blog. It is in Spanish: The content in it is translated from the English in this blog.

3 comments:

Neil, my name is Arlin Nusbaum and "BOMC" is the acronym for Book of Mormon Christian.

My view regarding the D&C is that Joseph's mantle was to bring forth the Book of Mormon, not start a church. Had God wanted him to do so, Joseph would have retained the Urim and Thumim as Book of Mormon prophets did!

Because D&C 10 was received when Joseph was under that mantle, and because it pertains to the Book of Mormon, we include it with our acceptance of the Book of Mormon. The condemnation reference, that Mormons are under condemnation for "not following" (D&C 84:54-57) the Book of Mormon we allow because it's true.

Main points:

1. Joseph was not called to start a church. There is no pre-Book of Mormon revelation commanding him to do so!

2. The Book of Mormon contains the complete gospel, i.e. all instructions necessary to get to God.

3. Joseph did the forbidden, he added, to the gospel in the Book of Mormon. LDS professors say so:

"Despite the effort that went into the translation, Joseph Smith did not make the book the foundation of the church." (Richard Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, 1984, p. 142)

"It has often been pointed out, however, that those beliefs most commonly associated with Mormonism are nowhere to be found in that text. Those expecting an exposition of peculiarly Mormon doctrine will be disappointed." (Terryl L. Givens, By the Hand of Mormon, 2002, p. 186)

"Joseph Smith did not refer to passages from the book in his writings or sermons, nor was it cited very often by early church leaders." (Grant Hardy in Royal Skousen ed., The Book of Mormon, the Earliest Text, Yale University Press, 2009, p. xxii)

"I will bring to light my gospel (Book of Mormon)...yea, the only doctrine which is in me." (D&C 10:62, dated Summer 1828)

"Whoso shall declare more or less than this (Book of Mormon) and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil" (3 Nephi 11:40)

One example Neil, is the command to baptize "children when eight"; another the endowment, etc. If it's not in the Book of Mormon, then it's not required to get to God!

Do you believe that?

David Whitmer was one of the first "Reformed Mormons" who stripped away the additions and returned to the Book of Mormon.

Arlin, thank you for the comment you submitted very recently. I began writing a response to it, but it was too long for the space allowed for Comments and it would probably be better to share it with you alone.

Because you have not yet responded to my suggestion that you allow me to answer your questions you pose in your comment above by e-mailing me so I could answer your questions and respond to your other statemets via an e-mail, I have answered a number of those in my upcoming Post 41w.

To respond to all that you wrote I will have to continue my response in my post 41x which will be published early in the morning of December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day!)

About Me

I was born Feb. 13, 1932 in Sacramento, CA. I grew up in Roseville, CA. While employed by the LDS Church my family and I lived in Utah, New Mexico, Montana, California, and Missouri. I retired from LDS Family Services in 1996. I owned my own adoption service business for 8 years thereafter. Then my wife, Melva and I served in Finland 2004 - 2006 as missionaries. I also served as a young missionary in Finland from 1952 - 1955. I have nine children (5 daughters, four sons), two step-children, (step-sons) and 27 grandchildren.

From One Mormon's Point of View

So much is being said nowadays on the Internet by people not of the Mormon faith, about the Mormons and their beliefs. Why not learn about us Mormons from one of us. I'm not an official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, just one of the regular members, yet I'm one who supports Mormon beliefs because I have a testimony and have had much experience that has shown me the truth. I welcome your questions and even criticisms that you have heard, about which you would like the truth. If that is the case, you've come to the right guy.